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Apr 13, 2024 : John Rutkowski III The Trek

2024-04-11 Day 0 to the Camino

Day Zero

Finally traveling. The Four Pengionos traveled from MA, CO and DE to Santiago de Compostela. I, Tercius was the last to arrive. Percius traveled 5,700 miles with many stops in different countries.

  

I managed to get to Madrid, and then Santiago. I wandered around like a lost Penginos, when I saw a taxi driver in a big van (for Spain) I yelled out Rutkowski, and he turned around. The flight was a bit early, even though they had announced a 50 minute gate hold, that turned into 50 minutes.

The Madrid airport was quite beautiful, but I added a KM or two in the journey from gate to customs, and then a underground train to the domestic terminal, before I found a somewhat normal  terminal, but they don’t announce the gate number until 30 minutes before boarding. Everyone site around and then a mad dash to the gate number which is another .5 KM away.

But the taxi driver was on Mr. Toads Wild Ride to downtown Santiago, where the three other Penginos were waiting so we beat the 15 minute limit on  pickup.

90 minutes later we were in Oia staying at very nicely restored family house. Much seafood was consumed at lunch, a nap from 5 to 7:30 and then dinner watching the sun go down. In bed to finish the jet lag recovery.

Day Zero.1

After a late breakfast we wandered south to work out the kinks of the 5+ hour flights. A bit of road walking and a return through paths and gravel. We met walkers from the Netherlands, Australia. Trail families are true in the EU, or maybe it’s just the Yanks forming one.

 

Another sunset meal and then to bed at hiker midnight.

  Tomorrow is the true start.

 

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John Rutkowski III
Apr 13th : John Rutkowski III
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John Rutkowski III's Bio

AKA Tercius. I started camping at age 6 doing a coast to coast camping trip. This was BEFORE Interstates and seatbelts. My AT Section and Horsehoe Trail hiking started when I was 14. And AT section hike from NJ to Leigh river to celebrate graduating from high school. College job was at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports and UVaOC sent me on many adventures and introduced me to lifelong outdoor friends. And introduced me to the Whites in winter and the AMC. I was a guide after college, Holubar Kit Specialist (the first male to hold that role), then store Manager. Fast forward to the creation of Mountain Mend which cleaned, repaired and made custom outdoor gear. Which led me to The Wilderness Group in Ventura as a Production Manager (The first days of the Ultralight trend). LOTS of 100+ road bike rides. An ex-Holubar manager offered me a job in Minden Nevada, a startup making orthopedic knee braces. It was a bike trip to Yosemite where I was filling in as Sag Wagon driver, where I met Karen, I was awestruck by her scent. She asked me to warm her feet at the bluegrass concert that night, I proposed in six weeks. Then life happened, started an IT company, BOLDER Designs selling AutoCAD. Eight years later we had a son, who was introduced to the outdoors with many car camping and he did the Whites Presidential Traverse to celebrate graduating from 1st grade. More life, at 63 started a series of cancer surgeries and treatments. Getting back on the trail was my method of recovery. I'd be sweating bullets just walk the gentle valley loop in the White Clay Creek park behind my house. In 2019 I recover to be able to walk Hadrian's Wall from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. With my son, climbing buddy from Utah days, and a college outdoor buddy that I had not seen since 1975, and the father of my son's friend who did the Presidential Traverse 3 times. I sold my business in 2022 and retiring on 2024-04-01. Now at age 70 we are off to Spain (4 of us) to Walk the Camino Portugues, and if we are feeling good, on to Fisterra. Nothing like a good walk with friends.

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